Aliyev: Azerbaijan set to normalize relations with Armenia

Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev told a press conference during his visit to Kazakhstan that although efforts for a peace agreement with Armenia are not running as smoothly as they wished, there is no alternative to the process.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Monday after a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, Aliyev said:

"I informed my colleague [Tokayev] about the current status of the negotiating process on the normalization of relations. We are committed to normalization, and after the end of the second Karabakh war it was Azerbaijan who proposed to start working on a peace agreement. The process has almost been launched but things are not going as smoothly as we would like it to. However, there is no alternative here."

Stressing that the relations between neighbors should be normal, Aliyev added:

"We are looking forward to the future and believe that we can reach a peace agreement, on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, the United Nations Charter, all the fundamental norms and principles of international law, that will turn the page on years of hostility."